An open internet — free as in speech
The internet, carried by people.
Not by servers.
tomiNet lets people reach the open web from places where it is blocked. There is no company server in the middle to seize or shut down — your connection is carried, peer to peer, by an ordinary computer or phone run by someone you trust, or by a volunteer somewhere free.
Free. Open source. No account, no tracking, no central server.
How it works
The idea is simple: nearly everyone living under censorship has a relative, a friend, or a sympathetic stranger who lives somewhere with a free internet. tomiNet turns that person's ordinary computer or phone into a private doorway to the open web.
Someone free becomes a bridge
A person outside the censored country installs tomiNet and taps "Become a bridge." Their device will now quietly relay traffic for the people they choose. It keeps running in the background and costs them almost nothing.
They share an invite
The bridge creates a short invite code (or a QR code) — something like
TOMI-XXXX-XXXX — and sends it to family over any channel they
already use. Only people holding the code can connect. No one else can.
The person inside connects
They paste the invite into tomiNet and press connect. Their phone or PC now reaches the open internet through their family's device. Chrome, apps, games — everything just works, as if the block weren't there.
Or join the public pool
No relative abroad? tomiNet also runs a public pool of volunteer bridges. Turn it on and the app finds a willing volunteer for you automatically — no invite needed.
Because there is no central server, there is nothing in the middle for a censor to find and block. The only thing that moves across the network is a handshake — tiny, encrypted, and indistinguishable from ordinary traffic.
The technology
tomiNet is built on boring, battle-tested, open building blocks — assembled in a way that leaves no central point to attack. Here is exactly how it works under the hood.
Peer-to-peer transport (WebRTC)
The actual data travels over a WebRTC data channel — the same peer-to-peer technology that powers video calls in every browser. It punches through home routers using standard STUN, and the payload is encrypted with DTLS end to end. Your traffic flows straight from your device to the bridge, never through us.
Serverless signaling (Nostr)
To connect two peers, they first need to exchange a tiny "hello." tomiNet sends it over Nostr — a decentralized network of independent relays — encrypted with NIP-44 so relays see only noise. There is no signaling server of our own to block. If some relays are blocked, the app simply uses others.
Invite-based trust
A family bridge serves only people who hold its secret invite code. The code carries the bridge's public key and a random secret; without it, a bridge is invisible and unreachable. Each invite can be issued and revoked independently.
Multiplexed, resilient streams
All your connections share one encrypted channel using smux multiplexing, with automatic failover: if one bridge drops, the client reconnects to another without interrupting you. A client can hold several bridges at once.
A bridge that protects its owner
The bridge enforces a strict exit policy: it can never be used to reach its operator's own home network (private, loopback and link-local addresses are refused). Public bridges additionally limit ports and bandwidth per user, so volunteering stays safe and cheap.
Whole-device, not just a browser
On Android, tomiNet runs as a VPN service so every app is covered. On Windows it configures the system proxy so browsers and most apps route through it. One Go core powers every platform.
The path of a connection
- Client generates a one-time key and a WebRTC offer.
- It encrypts the offer to the bridge's key and publishes it to Nostr relays.
- The bridge decrypts it, checks the invite, and replies with an encrypted answer.
- A direct, DTLS-encrypted WebRTC channel opens between the two devices.
- Your apps' traffic flows through that channel to the open internet.
What we are honest about
- No tool is unblockable. tomiNet's strength is that it has no single chokepoint and can route around blocks — not a promise that it can never be disrupted.
- Connections between two very restrictive networks (symmetric NAT on both ends) may fail without a relay fallback; we document this openly.
- A bridge operator can technically see the destinations their guests reach — so only bridge for people you're willing to help, and only connect through people you trust.
Free and open source
tomiNet belongs to everyone. The entire source code is open: anyone can read it, audit it, compile it themselves, and build on top of it. The only thing we ask is credit.
Read every line
Nothing is hidden. Security tools only deserve trust when they can be inspected — so tomiNet can be, completely.
Build on it
Developers are welcome to fork, extend, and ship their own clients and bridges on top of the tomiNet core. Just give credit.
For the common good
This is a non-commercial, public-interest project released under the TOMI brand, for the free flow of information.
Download tomiNet
Free, forever. Choose your platform. Installing takes under a minute.
Windows
Windows 10 & 11. A single portable app — no installer, no admin rights for client mode.
Download for WindowsAndroid
Android 8 and up. Covers every app on your phone through a secure VPN connection.
Download the APKLinux / Server
Run a headless bridge on a spare PC, a server, or a Raspberry Pi and help others from a free country.
Get the CLINote: builds are not yet code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen and Android may warn before install. This is expected for a new open-source project; the source is public so you can verify or compile it yourself.
Questions
Is it free?
Yes. tomiNet is free and open source, with no accounts and no central servers. If you run a bridge, you pay only for your own normal internet.
Does it hide who I am?
tomiNet is built to get you access to blocked sites, not to make you anonymous. Your bridge can see the sites you visit, so connect only through someone you trust. For strong anonymity, use dedicated tools like Tor.
Will it work in my country?
tomiNet is designed for heavily censored networks, including Iran and China. Because it has no fixed server to block and can route around interference, it is resilient — but no tool can guarantee it will never be disrupted.
Is running a bridge safe for me?
The bridge can never reach your home network, and public bridges limit ports and bandwidth. You decide whom to help, and you can stop at any time.
Who is behind it?
tomiNet is an open-source, public-interest project released under the TOMI brand, for a free and open internet.